Chapter 362: Population and Economic Development

From the fact that the annual net income the cola industry brings to the royal family is as high as 37 million pesetas, one can see that the current Spanish royal family is truly damn rich.

"Wealthy enough to rival a nation" is no exaggeration for the Spanish royal family; although it cannot compare to the income of the great powers, compared to non-great power nations, it can at least rank in the top five.

As time arrived at the end of 1892, Luo Lun reported the estimated total annual income of the Spanish royal family for this year to Carlos.

The total income of all Spanish royal family industries reached as high as 387 million pesetas, equivalent to 15. 8 million pounds.

Among them, the most profitable enterprise is the Spanish Royal United Bank; the bank's annual profit has already exceeded 72 million pesetas, making it the leading enterprise with the most assets and highest income among all businesses in Spain.

Following closely behind is the Royal Mercedes-Benz Automobile Company.

After these ten-plus years of development, the automobile industry has undergone tremendous changes.

The most obvious is the reduction in automobile prices. During the period when automobiles were first born, the cost of each vehicle was as high as 12, 00 pesetas.

This also resulted in the selling price of automobiles having to be raised to 15, 00 pesetas; after all, automobile factories need a continuous stream of income to expand production scale and research new technologies and related techniques.

After experiencing these ten years of development, under the assembly line production model, the cost of each automobile has already seen a significant decline.

Currently, the cost of automobiles produced within Spain can be controlled at around 4, 00 pesetas, with the cost already less than one-third of the original.

Benefiting from the extremely low manufacturing costs, the selling price of each automobile in the current Spanish market has also been reduced to around 6, 00 pesetas.

Although it is still at a relatively high price for most commoners, the current automobile is no longer the exclusive preserve of the rich; many in the middle class, through hard work, are still able to purchase an automobile of their own.

Of course, commoner families can also wait a bit longer.

Because the current selling price of automobiles is still constantly decreasing, while the average annual income of Spaniards is constantly growing. One day, commoners will also be able to afford automobiles, and this day is not too far off.

As of now, the total sales volume of Mercedes-Benz automobiles launched by the Mercedes-Benz Automobile Company has already exceeded 300, 00 units and is moving toward the milestone of 500, 00 units.

As the economies of various countries gradually prosper, the sales volume of automobiles is also getting higher and higher, which is also the reason why the Royal Mercedes-Benz Automobile Company's income is quite stable.

In the Spanish market alone, the number of automobiles sold each year is as high as several thousand. According to the current net profit of 2, 00 pesetas per vehicle, the income the Spanish market brings to the Royal Mercedes-Benz Automobile Company is as high as nearly 10 million pesetas.

In addition to being responsible for sales in the Spanish market, the Royal Mercedes-Benz Automobile Company is also responsible for sales in Russia, Portugal, and some small and medium-sized European countries.

Adding up the sales volume of these countries, the annual income is also nearly 10 million pesetas.

Coupled with the sales volume of branches established in great power nations, the total annual income of the Royal Mercedes-Benz Automobile Company is as high as 65 million pesetas, and the income is still in constant growth.

The income of the Royal United Bank and the Royal Mercedes-Benz Automobile Company added together alone is already as high as 137 million pesetas.

From this aspect, one can also see how profitable monopoly enterprises are; saying that the money came from a strong wind is not an exaggeration at all.

That the Spanish royal family can be so wealthy is actually because they have achieved monopolies in many industries. However, Carlos is not a capitalist in the true sense; while the royal enterprises are making money, they also return a portion of the benefits to the workers and the public.

The reason why the average annual income of Spaniards is constantly growing is inseparable from the constant growth of the income of employees belonging to royal enterprises.

As of the beginning of this year, the average annual income in Spain is around 248 pesetas. This income level looks relatively low, the main reason being that the large number of farmers in Spain pulled down the income average line.

The annual income of the worker group has already exceeded 320 pesetas, and the average annual income of most employees in royal enterprises is even as high as over 360 pesetas, which is also the reason why most Spaniards are willing to join enterprises belonging to the royal family.

This is just for those ordinary workers. For those excellent technical workers, they can get an annual income of several hundred or even a thousand pesetas in any factory.

Some excellent technical workers at the Royal Mercedes-Benz Automobile Company have an average income as high as 860 pesetas, which is several times the current average income of Spaniards.

From this aspect, one can also see one thing: the average annual income calculated by the Spanish government is not precise and may be on the low side compared to the actual level.

Facts are indeed so. Spain possesses a farming population of tens of millions, and the income of these farming groups is difficult to estimate.

Their income is not only related to the grain output of that year but also linked to the grain price of that year. The sale of grain also depends on the willingness of these farmers, and it is precisely these unstatable farming groups that keep the average annual income calculated by the Spanish government at a relatively low level.

If only the worker group were counted, the average annual income in Spain could grow to over 350 pesetas, and it would only be more, not less.

Although the average annual income calculated by the government is not accurate, it is still no problem to determine the population in need of poverty subsidies based on the current average annual income.

Just by distributing subsidies to the impoverished population, the royal family has to spend tens of millions of pesetas in funds every year. Carlos also has the Royal Security Intelligence Agency supervise the destination of the subsidies to ensure that this money truly reaches the hands of those who need it.

Benefiting from the royal family's subsidies to the impoverished population, coupled with the prosperity of the local Spanish economy, the living standards of Spaniards have become better and better; having enough to eat and wear is no longer a fantasy, but a fact that most commoner families can achieve.

Some families have even shed their needs for material aspects; compared to material things, they care more about spiritual enjoyment.

To put it simply, the pursuits of these people have changed from simple eating, drinking, and excreting to entertainment and enjoyment, which includes tourism and watching bullfighting matches.

Madrid and Barcelona welcome a large number of tourists every year; these two thriving twin-star cities are the places that most Spaniards dream of going to.

Besides these two massive metropolises, what is most popular among Spaniards are cities and attractions with different scenery.

Spain still has many coastlines with beautiful scenery; these coastlines are highly sought after by Spaniards, and a large number of tourists go there every summer.

Benefiting from the vigorous construction by the transportation department, the domestic transportation environment in Spain is much better than before.

The railways connect not only the capitals of each state; those cities that possess a certain scale are all covered by railway lines.

Besides railways, Spain's highways have also been built to all cities. Under such perfect transportation construction, the scale of population mobility of Spaniards has also reached an unprecedented climax.

Of course, the benefits of population mobility are only enjoyed by Madrid and Barcelona.

If it were not for the cabinet deciding to limit Madrid's population after discussion, I am afraid Madrid's population would already be heading toward 1. million at this time.

Even after population restrictions, the current population of Madrid is still as high as 1. million, making it the undisputed number one city in Spain. Barcelona has also carried out crazy catching up in these few years and has now become the second city in Spain with a population of over one million.

Compared to Madrid, which has population restrictions, Barcelona's population development is unrestricted.

This also makes the development plan of the Barcelona municipal government very grand; they plan to overtake Madrid within the next five years and become Spain's industrial center, economic center, and shipping center.

According to the current population growth trend of Barcelona, let alone five years, there is hope for Barcelona's population to exceed Madrid's even within three years.

Of course, no matter how much Barcelona develops, it is impossible to replace the importance of Madrid as the capital.

Madrid is located in the central region of the entire Iberian Peninsula; regardless of whether Spain annexes Portugal in the future, Madrid is the most important city on the Iberian Peninsula in terms of strategic significance.

Even if Barcelona's industry and economy are highly developed, it can only be relegated to the second most important city under Madrid.

However, there is no need for Barcelona and Madrid to compete. Both are special cities of Spain, and there is no conflict in development; they can even join hands and move forward together.

Under these two cities, the third most populous city in Spain is Seville, the capital of the state of Andalusia.

Although the population of the state of Andalusia is the largest among all state-level administrative divisions in Spain, Seville, as the capital city, only has a population of just over 400, 00.

However, fortunately, the population scale of other cities in Spain is also very limited; although there is no hope of catching up with Madrid and Barcelona, maintaining its status as number three is still no problem.

When the tram was just born, the Spanish government intended to open trams in some larger cities.

But after conducting pilots in Madrid and Barcelona, the cabinet government soon dismissed this idea.

It is quite difficult for this kind of public welfare-oriented public transportation to achieve profitability.

Currently, Madrid and Barcelona are both super-large cities with populations at the million level, and the trams in these two cities cannot achieve profitability, let alone other cities.

It is precisely because of this that currently, the only places in all of Spain that can open trams are Madrid and Barcelona.

Seville might be the third, but at least in the short term, there is no hope for Seville to open trams.

As time arrived at the end of 1892, according to the reported data of the Spanish government, the total population of mainland Spain reached a scale of 28. million.

Over the past ten years, Spain's annual population growth has been quite stable, with the total population growth over ten years exceeding 8 million people.

According to this population growth speed, it is expected that in 1895, Spain's total population scale will be able to reach over 30 million people.

30 million people is not a small number in all of Europe; as long as the population can reach 30 million, whether participating in war or self-development in the future, there will not be too much of a disadvantage compared to other European great powers.

If one counts those Spanish immigrants living in the colonies, Spain's total population exceeds 29 million people.

However, the government will ignore these colonial immigrants in the statistics and only count the local population data, which can also reduce the pressure brought by statistics.

Up to now, the population statistics of various countries can only be accurate to the ten-thousandth place. As for smaller numbers, it is impossible to count them accurately.

This also leads to large errors in population statistics, and there is simply no relatively precise number.

However, fortunately, Spain's population statistics are relatively precise; generally, the population error will not exceed ten thousand, mainly due to the influence brought by those deceased populations and immigrant populations.

In this year, the population not only ushered in a large-scale growth, but there was also relatively rapid development in the industrial aspect.

Around 1890, Spain's annual steel output was only 521, 00 tons; this data was already quite good at the time.

According to the steel output data published by the governments of various countries at the time, Spain's steel output could rank fifth in the world, second only to the four countries of Britain, the United States, Germany, and France, and was on the same level as the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

And two years later, in the full year of 1892, Spain's steel output had already reached 721, 00 tons.

Although this steel output was still fifth in the world, it had already widened the gap with the Austro-Hungarian Empire and was not far from France's steel output.

Currently, Spain's total industrial scale is also roughly in the fifth-place range in the world, slightly ahead of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and slightly behind France.

This is also the result of more than twenty years of development in Spain. The shipbuilding plan also effectively promoted the growth of steel output; after all, the steel armor paved on battleships is all cast from genuine steel.

One battleship is as high as tens of thousands of tons; in short, it is tens of thousands of tons of steel.

The few battleships built by the naval shipyard alone have caused a not-insignificant growth in Spain's steel output.

Not to mention the influence brought by other industries; this is also the reason why Spain's economy is not affected while its industry is growing rapidly.

The growth of Spain's steel output is carried out according to domestic demand, not blind growth.

Although this way of producing according to demand slowed down the rapid growth of steel output, it also made Spain's economy very stable.

Even if another economic crisis comes, the impact on Spain will not be too great.

After all, Spain's industrial construction is all steady and solid; the stock market will audit enterprises applying for listing and will not let those shell companies go public so easily.

What is popular in the Spanish stock market are real industrial enterprises with assets or financial enterprises with official status.

This kind of enterprise has a stronger ability to withstand the blow of an economic crisis and is less likely to go bankrupt in an economic crisis.

Coupled with the help of the Spanish government, it can be said that the current Spain is not afraid of an economic crisis, and an economic crisis is also impossible to break out within Spain.

That kind of economic crisis that spreads to Spain from other countries is just a simple test for various types of enterprises in Spain.

(End of this chapter)